Glenn Close

Early life and family

Close was born and raised on March 19, 1947 in Greenwich, Connecticut, the daughter of William Taliaferro Close, a doctor who operated a clinic in the Belgian Congo and served as a personal physician to Zaire's ruler Mobutu Sese Seko, and socialite Bettine Moore Close. She has two sisters, Tina and Jessie, and two brothers, Alexander (nicknamed Sandy) and Tambu Misoki, whom Close's parents adopted while living in Africa.

Her father was a descendant of the Taliaferros of Virginia; her paternal grandfather, Edward Bennett Close, a stockbroker and director of the American Hospital Association, was first married to Post Cereals' heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post. Close is also a second cousin, once removed, of actress Brooke Shields (Shields's great-grandmother Mary Elsie Moore was a sister of Close's maternal grandfather, Charles Arthur Moore, Jr.).

During her childhood, Close lived with her parents in a stone cottage on her maternal grandfather's estate in Greenwich. Close has credited her acting abilities to her early years: "I have no doubt that the days I spent running free in the evocative Connecticut countryside with an unfettered imagination, playing whatever character our games demanded, is one of the reasons that acting has always seemed so natural to me." Although Close has an affluent background, she has stated that her family chose not to participate in WASP society. She would also avoid mentioning her birthplace whenever asked because she did not want people to think she was a "dilettante who didn't have to work."

When she was seven years old, her parents joined a "cult group," the Moral Re-Armament (MRA), in which her family remained involved for fifteen years, living in communal centers. Close described MRA as a group that dictated every aspect of her life, from the clothes that had to be worn to what they were allowed to say. In an interview Close stated that her desire to become an actress allowed her to break away from the cult, stating: "I have long forgiven my parents for any of this. They had their reasons for doing what they did, and I understand them. It had terrible effects on their kids, but that’s the way it is. We all try to survive, right? And I think what actually saved me more than anything was my desire to be an actress." She spent time in Switzerland when studying at St. George's School in Switzerland. Close traveled for several years in the mid-to-late 1960s with an MRA singing group called Up With People, and attended Rosemary Hall (now Choate Rosemary Hall), graduating in 1965. During her time in Up With People, Close organized a small singing group, the Green Glenn Singers, consisting of herself, Kathe Green, Jennie Dorn, and Vee Entwistle. The group's stated mission was "to write and sing songs which would give people a purpose and inspire them to live the way they were meant to live."

When she was 22, Close broke away from MRA, attending the College of William & Mary, and double majoring in theatre and anthropology. It was in the College's theatre department that she began to train as a serious actor, under Howard Scammon, W&M's long-time professor of theatre. During her years at school in Williamsburg, she also starred in the summer-time outdoor drama, "The Common Glory," written by Pulitzer Prize author Paul Green. She was elected to membership in the honor society of Phi Beta Kappa. Through the years, Close has returned to W&M to lecture and visit the theatre department. In 1989, Close was the commencement speaker at W&M and received an honorary doctor of arts degree.

Professional debut (1974–79)

Close started her professional stage career in 1974 at the age of 27 and her film work in 1982 at 35. During her senior year of college, Close became inspired to pursue a career in acting after watching an interview of Katharine Hepburn on The Dick Cavett Show. The following day she called her school's theater department to be nominated for a series of auditions through the University Resident Theatre Association and TCG. Eventually she was given a callback and hired for one season to do three plays at the Helen Hayes Theatre, one of those plays being Love for Love directed by Hal Prince. She continued to appear in many Broadway and Off-Broadways in the 1970s and early 1980s. Close made her television debut in 1975; it was a small role in the anthology series Great Performances. In 1979, she filmed the television movie Orphan Train and Too Far to Go. The latter film, included Blythe Danner and Michael Moriarty in the cast, Close played Moriarty's lover. In 1980, director George Roy Hill discovered Close on Broadway and asked her to audition with Robin Williams for a role in The World According to Garp, which would become her first film role.

Breakthrough in Hollywood (1982–89)

The 1980s proved to be Close's most successful decade in Hollywood. She made her debut film performance in The World According to Garp which earned Close her first Oscar nomination. She played Robin Williams' mother, despite being just four years older. The following year she played Sarah Cooper in The Big Chill, a character that director Lawrence Kasdan said he specifically wrote for her. The movie received positive reviews and was a financial success. Close became the third actor to receive a Tony, Emmy, and Oscar (Academy Award) nomination all in the same calendar year after the release of The Big Chill. In 1984 Close was given a part in Robert Redford's baseball drama The Natural, although it was a small supporting role she earned a third consecutive Oscar nomination. Close, to this day, credits her nomination to cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, stating ''That hat was designed so the sunlight would come through. We waited for a certain time of day, so the sun was shining through the back of the stadium. And he had a lens that muted the people around me. It was an incredibly well thought-out shot. And I honestly think that's the reason I got nominated.'' Close also starred opposite Robert Duvall in the drama The Stone Boy (1984), a film about a family coping after their youngest child accidentally kills his older brother in a hunting accident.

Eventually, Close began to seek different roles to play because she did not want to be typecast as a motherly figure. She starred in the 1985 romantic comedy Maxie, alongside Mandy Patinkin. Close was given favorable reviews and even received her second Golden Globe Award nomination, but the movie was critically panned and under-performed at the box office. In 1985 Close starred in the legal thriller Jagged Edge, opposite Jeff Bridges. Initially, Jane Fonda was attached to the role, but was replaced with Close when she requested changes in the script. Producer Martin Ransohoff was against the casting of Close because he said she was "too ugly" for the part. Close eventually heard about this and said she didn't want Ransohoff on set while she was making her scenes. Director Richard Marquand stood by her side and sent Ransohoff away. Infuriated, Ransohoff went to the studio heads trying to get Close and Marquand fired from the picture. The studio refused, stating they were pleased with their work in the film. Jagged Edge received favorable to positive reviews and grossed $40-million on a $15-million budget.

In 1987 Close played the disturbed book editor Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction; this was the role that propelled her into stardom. The movie became a huge box-office success, the highest-grossing film worldwide of that year. The character of Alex Forrest has been considered one of Close's most iconic roles; the phrase "bunny boiler" has even been added to the dictionary, referencing a scene from the movie. During the re-shoot of the ending, Close suffered a concussion from one of the takes when her head smashed against a mirror. After being rushed to the hospital, she discovered, much to her horror, that she was actually a few weeks pregnant with her daughter. To this day, Close said watching the ending makes her uncomfortable because of how much she unknowingly put her unborn daughter at risk. Close stated in an interview that, "Fatal Attraction was really the first part that took me away from the Jenny Fields, Sarah Coopers—good, nurturing women roles. I did more preparation for that film than I've ever done." Close received her fourth Oscar nomination for this role and also won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Actress.

She played a scheming aristocrat, the Marquise de Merteuil, in 1988's Dangerous Liaisons. Close earned stellar reviews for this performance, and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress. In addition, she received her first BAFTA nomination but did not win. Close's final film role of the decade was Immediate Family (1989), a drama about a married couple seeking to adopt a child. Producer Lawrence Kasdan had Close star in the film, as he directed her previously in The Big Chill.

Established actress (1990–99)

In 1990 Close went on to play the role of Sunny von Bülow opposite Jeremy Irons in Reversal of Fortune to critical acclaim. The film drew some controversy since it dealt with the Claus von Bülow murder trial, while the real Sunny von Bülow was still in a vegetative state. Sunny's children also publicly criticized the movie. In the same year, Close played Gertrude in Franco Zeffirelli's film adaption of Hamlet. It was the first Shakespeare role that Close had ever attempted on screen (she appeared in 1975 in a stage production of "King Lear", in Milwaukee). Close would later go on to join the cast of The House of the Spirits, reuniting her with Jeremy Irons. She also had a cameo appearance in Steven Spielberg's Hook (1991) as a pirate. In 1992, Close starred in Meeting Venus for which she received critical acclaim and won Best Actress (Golden Ciak) at the Venice Film Festival. In the same year, Close became a trustee emeritus of The Sundance Institute.

Close appeared in the newsroom comedy-drama The Paper (1994), directed by her good friend Ron Howard. She insisted on doing more comedies but felt that she struggled in this role saying, "I have to criticize my performance in that movie. It all took place in one day. My character was having a bad day, so she's having a bad day throughout the whole movie. But this was a comedy, and I think I was too serious, too dense." She would go on to appear in the alien invasion satire Mars Attacks! (1996) as The First Lady and as the sinister Cruella de Vil in the Disney hit 101 Dalmatians. Close's portrayal of Cruella de Vil was universally praised and earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a comedy. The film was also a commercial success, grossing $320.6 million in theaters against a $75 million budget. The following year, Close appeared in another box office hit with Air Force One (1997), playing the trustworthy vice president to Harrison Ford's president. Close would later star in the war film Paradise Road (1997) as a choir conductor of the women imprisoned by the Japanese in World War II. In 1999, Close provided the voice of Kala in Disney's animated film Tarzan. She later went on to receive great reviews for her comedic role as Camille Dixon in Cookie's Fortune (1999).

Independent films and break (2000–07)

Close began to appear in television movies rather than doing theatrical films in the early 2000s. She returned as Cruella de Vil in 102 Dalmatians (2000), although the film received mixed reviews, it performed well at the box office. Close later filmed The Safety of Objects which premiered in 2001, a movie about four suburban families dealing with maladies. This was Kristen Stewart's first film role, Close and Stewart would later reunite in the 2015 film Anesthesia. Close starred in Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her in the same year, this would be one of many future collaborations with director Rodrigo Garcia. In 2004, she played Claire Wellington, an uptight socialite in the comedy The Stepford Wives opposite Nicole Kidman and Christopher Walken. She provided the voice of the Blue Fairy in the English version of Pinocchio (2002) and Granny in the animated film Hoodwinked (2005). Close continued to do smaller films like Le Divorce (2003) and The Chumscrubber (2005). In 2005, she reunited with director Rodrigo Garcia to do Nine Lives; he would later direct Close in the film Albert Nobbs (2011). In the same year, she starred in the film Heights (2005), an independent drama centered on the lives of five New Yorkers. Close's performance was lauded by critics. In 2007, Close joined friend and previous co-star Meryl Streep in the ensemble drama Evening. This would be Close's final theatrical film role of the decade, since she began to star in her own television series, Damages (2007). Close was asked about her contributions to independent films, to which she responded "I love the casts that gather around a good piece of writing certainly not for the money but because it is good and challenging. Sometimes I've taken a role for one scene that I thought was phenomenal. Also my presence can help them get money, so it's I think a way for me to give back."

Return to film (2011–present)

In December 2010, Close began filming Albert Nobbs in Dublin. She had previously won an Obie in 1982 for her role in the play on stage. She had been working on the film, in which she appeared alongside 101 Dalmatians co-star Mark Williams, for almost 20 years, and aside from starring in it, she co-wrote the screenplay, and produced the film. Close expressed that it became more important for her to make this film to stimulate conversations about transgender issues, "There came a point where I asked, 'Am I willing to live the rest of my life having given up on this?' And I said, 'No I won't.' Some people will change their point of view, and those who are either too old, or too blinkered, to accept the beauty of difference will just have to 'die off'." In the film, Close played the title role of Albert Nobbs, a woman living her life as a man in 1800s Ireland after being sexually assaulted as a young girl. While the film itself received mixed reviews, Close and Janet McTeer received rave reviews for their performances. Close's performance was noted for being her most subtle and introverted performance yet and a departure from her other roles. She received Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and multiple critics nominations for her performance. Close was asked about the fact of not having an Oscar during the film's awards campaign, for which she answered: "And I remember being astounded that I met some people who were really kind of almost hyper-ventilating as to whether they were going to win or not, and I have never understood that. Because if you just do the simple math, the amount of people who are in our two unions, the amount of people who in our profession are out of work at any given time, the amount of movies that are made every year, and then you're one of five. How could you possibly think of yourself as a loser?"

Along with Viola Davis and Uma Thurman, Close was featured in the 2012 documentary Love, Marilyn, reading excerpts from Marilyn Monroe's diaries. Critic Stephen Farber has described the film as "One of the most skillful and entertaining summaries of Marilyn's endlessly fascinating rise and fall." After her television series Damages ended, Close returned to film in 2014, in which she played Nova Prime Rael in the science fiction film Guardians of the Galaxy. Close also appeared in the independent movie 5 to 7 (2014) and Low Down (2014). In 2016, she appeared in The Great Gilly Hopkins and Warcraft. She also starred in the British zombie horror drama The Girl with All the Gifts (2016) as Dr. Caldwell, a scientist researching a cure to save humanity.

In 2017, Close appeared alongside Noomi Rapace and Willem Dafoe in What Happened to Monday a Netflix original movie which premiered in August. Also that year, she was reunited with actors John Malkovich (her co-star in Dangerous Liaisons) and Patrick Stewart (co-star in The Lion in Winter) in the romantic comedy The Wilde Wedding; starred in an adaptation of novelist Meg Wolitzer's The Wife, which premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival; and co-starred in Crooked House, a film adaptation of the novel by Agatha Christie.

Upcoming projects

Close will appear as Owen Wilson's character's mother in the comedy Father Figures, which will premiere in December 2017. Close will also star in Duchess, playing Anna Anderson, who claimed to be the Grand Russian Duchess Anastasia.

Television

Close began to do television movies in the early 1980s beginning with The Elephant Man and in 1984, starred in the critically acclaimed drama Something About Amelia, a Golden Globe-winning television movie about a family destroyed by sexual abuse of the incest type. (Ted Danson appeared as the abusing husband-father; Roxana Zal acted out the role of Amelia, the daughter-victim of Danson's character, which role first brought Zal to prominence.) She starred alongside Keith Carradine in Stones for Ibarra (1988), a television film adaption from the book written by Harriet Doerr and produced by the Hallmark company.

In the 1990s she starred in the highly rated Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie Sarah, Plain and Tall (1991), as well as its two sequels. She also impersonated the title subject of the fact-based made-for-TV movie Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story in 1995, for which she won her first Emmy. Close has also provided the voice of Mona Simpson, from The Simpsons, since 1995. Entertainment Weekly named Close one of the 16 best Simpsons guest stars. In 2001 she starred in a production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic musical South Pacific as Nellie Forbush on ABC. Close guest-starred on Will and Grace in 2002, portraying a satirical version of Annie Leibovitz, earning her an Emmy nomination for Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. In 2003 she played Eleanor of Aquitaine in the Showtime produced film The Lion in Winter. Close won a Golden Globe and Screen Actor's Guild award for her performance. In 2005 Close joined the FX crime series The Shield, in which she played Monica Rawling, a no-nonsense precinct captain, this became her first TV role in a series. Close stated that she made the right move because television was in a "golden era" and the quality of some programs had already risen to the standards of film. John Landgraf, CEO of FX, stated that network was the "first to bring a female movie star of Glenn Close’s stature to television." He also credits her collaboration with the network with promoting roles for women on television, as well as influencing other film actors to switch to the small screen. Although she only starred in season four of the series, Close was offered to continue her character. She respectfully declined because she did not want to miss out on more family time. The Shield was filmed in Los Angeles, which was too far from Close's residence in New York City.

Close was later approached by FX executives who pitched a television series for her to star in, that would only be filmed in New York City. In 2007, Close played the ruthless and brilliant lawyer Patty Hewes on Damages for five seasons. Her portrayal of this character was met with rave reviews and a plethora of award nominations, in addition she went on to win two consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama series. Throughout the show's run, she became one of the highest paid actresses on cable, earning $200,000 per episode. Close stated that her role of Patty Hewes in the series was the role of her life. Close also kept in contact with her co-star Rose Byrne, and the two have become great friends. After the series ended, Close stated that she would not return to television in a regular role, but that she was open to do a miniseries or a guest spot. In 2017 it was reported that Close would return to television in a half hour comedy pilot for Amazon, titled Sea Oak.

Close has also hosted Saturday Night Live in 1989 and in 1992.

Theatre

Close has had an extensive career performing in Broadway musicals. She began performing in 1974, and received her first Tony Award nomination in 1980 for Barnum. One of her most notable roles on stage was Norma Desmond in the Andrew Lloyd Webber production of Sunset Boulevard, for which Close won a Tony Award, playing the role on Broadway in 1993-94. For her role, Close was met with critical acclaim. David Richards of The New York Times wrote in 1994 that "Glenn is giving one of those legendary performances people will be talking about years from now. The actress takes breathtaking risks, venturing so far out on a limb at times that you fear it will snap. It doesn't."

Close was also a guest star at the Andrew Lloyd Webber fiftieth birthday party celebration in the Royal Albert Hall in 1998. She would later re-team with the show's director, Trevor Nunn, in London for his Royal National Theatre revival of A Streetcar Named Desire in 2002. Close won a Tony Award in 1984 for The Real Thing, directed by Mike Nichols. In 1992 she won another Tony Award for Death and the Maiden. In 2008, Close performed at Carnegie Hall, narrating the violin concerto The Runaway Bunny, a concerto for reader, violin and orchestra, composed and conducted by Glen Roven. She provided the voice of the "Giant" in the Summer 2012 production of the musical Into the Woods at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The production also featured Amy Adams as The Baker's Wife and Donna Murphy as The Witch. In 2014 she starred in a production of the Pirates of Penzance for the Public Theater in New York, playing the role of Ruth. This production featured Kevin Kline, Martin Short and Anika Noni Rose.

In October 2014, Close returned to Broadway in the starring role of Agnes in Pam MacKinnon's revival of Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance at the Golden Theatre. Her co-stars were John Lithgow as Tobias, Martha Plimpton as Julia and Lindsay Duncan as Claire. The production grossed $884,596 over eight preview performances during the week ending Oct. 25, setting a new house record at the Golden Theatre. The production received mixed reviews, although the cast was praised.

In April 2016 she returned as Norma Desmond in the musical Sunset Boulevard in an English National Opera production in the West End in London. Close was met with rave reviews after returning to this same role twenty-three years later. Both The Times and The Daily Telegraph gave the production five stars and praised her performance. During the production Close was forced to cancel three shows due to a chest infection. She was hospitalized but later recovered and finished the remaining shows. Close won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical Performance, and was nominated for her first Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. The ENO London production of Sunset Boulevard transferred to the Palace Theatre on Broadway, with Close reprising her role. It opened on February 9, 2017 in a limited run, selling tickets through June 25, 2017. The production features a 40-piece orchestra, the largest in Broadway history. Close in particular was lauded by critics for her new incarnation of Norma Desmond. As The New York Times called it "one of the great stage performances of this century." Variety, Parade, The Guardian and Entertainment Weekly also gave the new production positive reviews.

Close has hosted the 46th and 49th annual Tony Awards. In 2016, Close was inducted into The Theater Hall of Fame for her work on stage.

Reception, acting style and legacy

Close is regarded as an extraordinarily versatile actress with an immersive acting style. In 1995, Close guest starred on Inside the Actors Studio to discuss her film career. James Lipton described her as an actor who "can find an outstanding number of layers in a role or a single moment; Close is a supple actor who performs subtle feats." Close credits the theater for the acting skills she developed stating, "To me, it's where you really develop as an artist. I have a huge respect for film acting, but onstage, you don't have editors and you don't have sound people. You don't have the close-up. You're out there with your fellow actors and the audience." Close is also professionally trained by acting coach Harold Guskin, who also taught Kevin Kline, Bridget Fonda and James Gandolfini. Working with Guskin, Close learned several important lessons, which she said she's applied to her career as well as her life. One such lesson, she claims, was to "read the lines off the page" and remembering to breathe. Close states, "You have to maintain a certain openness, and if you don't maintain that, you lose something vital as an actor. It's how we're wired, and it's not a bad thing." Close says that in order to continue to learn her trade she went to every rehearsal.

On method acting, she claims that while she found it interesting to work with those types of actors, it was not her preferred style. She told James Lipton in an interview that she thinks it's "cheating" if she has to draw upon her own feelings. However, she admitted to using this technique for some scenes in The House of the Spirits and Fatal Attraction. Although Close does extensive research and preparation for her roles, she also relies less on the technicality of a performance saying, "Good acting I think is like being a magician, in that you make people believe; because it's only when they believe that they are moved. And I want people to get emotionally involved. I think technique is important but it isn't everything. You can have a great technical actor who'll leave people cold. That's not my idea of great acting. As audience, I don't want to be aware of acting." Longtime collaborator and playwright, Christopher Hampton describes Close an actress who can very easily convey "a sense of strength and intelligence." Hampton worked on Sunset Boulevard and the stage production of Dangerous Liaisions, Hampton later cast her in the movie version. "Glenn is often described as having a glacial or distant quality about her, but in person she's the absolute opposite: warm and intimate," says the actor Iain Glen, who co-starred with her in the 2002 stage production of A Streetcar Named Desire. "She was able to bring strength to the role, so it became more of a contrast when she lost touch with reality. It was more moving. I'm sure that's why she was drawn to the role, to show different qualities that perhaps people were less familiar with. She was able to completely access that vulnerability. There was a real softness to her.

However, Close is praised for her more "villainous" roles than her soft and nurturing ones. Her character in Fatal Attraction was ranked #7 on AFI's 100 years...100 heroes and villains list. Regarding her role in the series Damages, The New York Times remarked "There is no actor dead or alive as scary as a smiling Glenn Close." Journalist Christopher Hooton also praised her saying, "Christopher Walken, Glenn Close, Al Pacino, and many others have a surprising danger in them. They're a little scary to be around, because you feel they might jump you or blow up at you at any time. They are ticking time bombs." Film historian Cari Beauchamp has stated, "When you look at the top 10 actresses of the past 80 years, since sound came in, first you have Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn and Meryl Streep – but I think Glenn Close is definitely in that list, it's a combination of her guts, in the roles she chooses, and her perseverance. Frankly, she's taken roles that are more challenging than a lot of other people."

On January 12, 2009, Close was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, in front of the Roosevelt Hotel. As of 2016, films featuring Close have grossed over $1.3 Billion in North America. She is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Close is also considered a gay icon, having played numerous campy roles on screen and stage.

Relationships and family

From 1969 to 1971, Close was married to Cabot Wade, a guitarist and songwriter, with whom she had performed during her time at Up with People. She was married to businessman James Marlas from 1984 to 1987. Soon afterwards, she began a relationship with producer John Starke, whom she had previously met on the set of The World According to Garp. Their daughter, Annie Starke, was born in 1988 and is an actress, who played the younger version of her mother's character in The Wife. They separated in 1991. In 1995 Close was engaged to carpenter Steve Beers, who had worked on Sunset Boulevard, but the two never married, and they separated in 1999. In February 2006, Close married executive and venture capitalist David Evans Shaw in Maine. The couple divorced in August 2015.

Business ventures and assets

Close currently resides in Bedford Hills, New York but still has a condo in the West Village. She also owns properties in Wellington, Florida, and Bozeman, Montana. In the early 1990s she owned a coffee shop in Bozeman, but sold it in 2006. In 2011 Close sold her apartment in The Beresford for $10.2 million. She also runs a 1,000 acre ranch in Wyoming. In 2015 Close had an estimated net worth of $50 million.

Close is the President of Trillium Productions Inc. Her company has produced films like Albert Nobbs, Sarah Plain and Tall, and South Pacific. She also produced the film Serving in Silence (1995) with Barbra Streisand, for which they were both nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie. Close's other production credits include Journey (1995), and the upcoming film Cruella (2018), based on the character which Close played in 101 Dalmatians.

In 2007 she co-founded FetchDog, a dog accessories catalog and Internet site. She published blogs where she interviews other celebrities about their relationships with their dogs. She sold the business in 2012.

Close keeps all of her costumes after completing films and rents them out to exhibits. She is a huge Madonna fan, and lent her the dress she wore in Dangerous Liaisons for Madonna's 1990 VMA performance of Vogue.

Close is a New York Mets fan, and has sung the national anthem at Shea Stadium and Citi Field numerous times since 1986.

Political views

Close was born into a Democratic family. In addition, she has donated money to the election campaigns of politicians, mostly Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, Howard Dean, John Edwards, Angus King and Barack Obama. She also spoke at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Close voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election and attended his inauguration. In a 2016 interview with Andrew Marr for the BBC, Close criticized Donald Trump, calling his campaign "terribly frightening." She later reiterated her sentiments about Trump, stating, "he doesn’t stand for anything I believe in."

Charitable work

Close has campaigned for many issues like gay marriage, women's rights, and mental health. In 1989 she attended pro-choice marches in Washington D.C. with Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda. In 1998, Close was a part of a star-studded cast which performed The Vagina Monologues at a benefit. It raised $250,000 in a single evening with proceeds going to the effort to stop violence against women. She was honored with a GLAAD Media Award in 2002 for promoting equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. She volunteered and produced a documentary for Puppies Behind Bars, an organization that provides service dogs for wounded war veterans. She is also a trustee of The Wildlife Conservation Society and volunteers at Fountain House in New York City, a facility dedicated to the recovery of men and women who suffer with mental illness. Close is a Founding Member of the Panthera Conservation Advisory Committee. Panthera is an international nonprofit whose sole mission is conservation of the world's 36 species of wild cats.

Mental health initiatives

Close was a founder and is chairperson of BringChange2Mind, a US campaign to eradicate the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental illness, supporting her sister Jessie who has bipolar disorder. In 2010, Close announced to the public that she had her DNA sequenced in order to publicize her family's history of mental illness. During the month of July 2013, Close put up over 380 designer items up for auction on eBay from the wardrobe her character Patty Hewes wore on Damages. All proceeds were raised to go to her charity BringChange2Mind. Close had director and friend Ron Howard direct the foundation's first PSA. John Mayer also lent his song "Say" for the advert. In 2013 Close went to the White House to urge passage of the Excellence in Mental-Health Act that was written to expand treatment for the mentally ill and to provide access to mental-health services. The bill was signed into law by President Obama in April 2014, and will provide $1.1 billion in funding to help strengthen the mental-health-care system in the US. She was awarded the WebMD Health Hero award in 2015 for her contributions to mental-health initiatives. Close is also a member of the CuriosityStream Advisory Board. On June 16, 2016, Close donated $75,000 to the Mental-Health Association of Central Florida in order to fund counselling and other assistance to victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting. Close frequently promotes her charitable causes through her Twitter account.